Customs & Traditions

32 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.Which bridal tradition became standard after Queen Victoria wore white in 1840?
- A. fika
- B. the white wedding dress
- C. the parachute
- D. Sherlock Holmes
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the white wedding dress
Did you know? Victoria's white gown set a lasting trend.
2.Which celebration custom celebrates the end of studies?
- A. Arthur Conan Doyle
- B. Auguste Renoir
- C. the ice cream cone
- D. the graduation cap toss
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the graduation cap toss
Did you know? Graduates toss caps skyward at ceremonies.
3.Which celebration item is broken blindfolded for the candy inside?
- A. Teflon
- B. the appendix
- C. France
- D. the piñata
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the piñata
Did you know? Piñata parties are a fixture of Mexican celebrations.
4.Which childhood custom trades a child's lost tooth for a coin?
- A. the shopping cart
- B. the tooth fairy
- C. fingerprints
- D. Jean Valjean
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the tooth fairy
Did you know? The tooth fairy visits many Western homes.
5.Which greeting custom greets with a clasped palm in much of the West?
- A. the Thai wai
- B. the bow
- C. the kiss on the cheek
- D. the handshake
Show answer
the handshake
Did you know? The handshake once showed the hand held no weapon.
6.Which household custom is the after-lunch rest in Spain and much of Latin America?
- A. Jorge Luis Borges
- B. the Great Pyramid of Giza
- C. The Starry Night
- D. the siesta
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the siesta
Did you know? The word siesta comes from the Latin for "sixth hour".
7.Which midnight custom light up midnight skies worldwide?
- A. the smorgasbord
- B. conveyor-belt sushi
- C. New Year's fireworks
- D. the Three Gorges Dam
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New Year's fireworks
Did you know? Midnight fireworks welcome the new year in most countries.
8.Which new year custom counts the last ten seconds aloud in squares worldwide?
- A. German
- B. the picnic
- C. the countdown
- D. the Indo-European family
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the countdown
Did you know? Times Square's countdown is broadcast worldwide.
9.Which new year promise sets a personal goal each January?
- A. the Adam's apple
- B. laughter
- C. the New Year's resolution
- D. Crime and Punishment
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the New Year's resolution
Did you know? Resolutions peak every first of January.
10.Which wedding jewelry is worn on the fourth finger in many countries?
- A. the wedding ring
- B. the human nose
- C. the Brazilian churrasco
- D. The Iliad
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the wedding ring
Did you know? Ancient belief linked a vein there to the heart.
11.Which greeting custom greets politely across Japan and Korea?
- A. the Thai wai
- B. the bow
- C. the handshake
- D. the kiss on the cheek
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the bow
Did you know? Deeper bows signal deeper respect.
12.Which household custom is the custom in homes across much of Asia?
- A. Charles Lindbergh
- B. removing shoes indoors
- C. The Great Gatsby
- D. One Hundred Years of Solitude
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removing shoes indoors
Did you know? Many homes provide slippers for guests.
13.Which new year custom dresses celebrants in white in Brazil?
- A. the lunch hour
- B. the microwave oven
- C. the appendix
- D. white clothes on New Year's Eve
Show answer
white clothes on New Year's Eve
Did you know? White symbolizes peace at Brazilian New Year parties.
14.Which new year custom sweeps out the old year in China and Brazil?
- A. the end-of-year house cleaning
- B. Tiananmen Square
- C. the saying "bon appétit"
- D. the Achilles tendon
Show answer
the end-of-year house cleaning
Did you know? Cleaning before New Year makes room for luck.
15.Which famous hoax was exposed in 1953 as a fake combining a human skull and an orangutan jaw?
- A. Phileas Fogg
- B. the Piltdown Man
- C. the pop-up toaster
- D. 1984
Show answer
the Piltdown Man
Did you know? Piltdown Man had fooled scientists for more than forty years.
16.Which gift custom carries New Year money in China and Vietnam?
- A. the maypole dance
- B. the red envelope
- C. conveyor-belt sushi
- D. American Gothic
Show answer
the red envelope
Did you know? Red envelopes are called hongbao in Chinese.
17.Which greeting custom greets friends in France and much of Latin America?
- A. the Thai wai
- B. the handshake
- C. the bow
- D. the kiss on the cheek
Show answer
the kiss on the cheek
Did you know? The number of cheek kisses varies by region.
18.Which household custom turns gifts into surprises with paper and ribbon?
- A. the Italian aperitivo
- B. gift wrapping
- C. H.G. Wells
- D. the Burghers of Calais
Show answer
gift wrapping
Did you know? Modern gift wrapping spread after the 1910s.
19.Which lucky custom is said to bring luck when found face-up?
- A. the lucky penny
- B. Arbor Day
- C. white clothes on New Year's Eve
- D. Rococo
Show answer
the lucky penny
Did you know? "Find a penny, pick it up," goes the saying.
20.Which number superstition avoids the number thirteen in buildings and hotels?
- A. the Altamira cave
- B. the tongue print
- C. triskaidekaphobia
- D. the Phoenician alphabet
Show answer
triskaidekaphobia
Did you know? Many hotels skip the 13th floor.
21.Which opening ritual opens new buildings with oversized scissors?
- A. the modern pencil
- B. the ribbon cutting
- C. Carnival
- D. the marine chronometer
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the ribbon cutting
Did you know? Ceremonial ribbon cuttings mark new openings.
22.Which wedding custom showers newlyweds with grain for luck and abundance?
- A. the lucky penny
- B. the maypole dance
- C. the tongue print
- D. the rice toss
Show answer
the rice toss
Did you know? Throwing rice at weddings is an old custom.
23.Which wedding rhyme guides a bride's lucky keepsakes at weddings?
- A. The Great Gatsby
- B. the napkin on the lap
- C. "something old, something new"
- D. birthday cake candles
Show answer
"something old, something new"
Did you know? The rhyme continues "something borrowed, something blue".
24.Which wedding tradition follows the wedding with a getaway?
- A. red, yellow, and blue
- B. the tea bag
- C. the honeymoon
- D. the Romance languages
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the honeymoon
Did you know? The word honeymoon once described mead-filled months.
25.Which lucky custom fends off bad luck after a boast?
- A. The Stranger
- B. Play-Doh
- C. knocking on wood
- D. triskaidekaphobia
Show answer
knocking on wood
Did you know? Knocking on wood follows a boast in many cultures.
26.Which wedding custom predicts the next guest to marry?
- A. Surrealism
- B. Paul Cézanne
- C. the bouquet toss
- D. Liberty Leading the People
Show answer
the bouquet toss
Did you know? Brides toss bouquets over their shoulders.
27.Which wedding custom paints brides' hands at weddings in South Asia and beyond?
- A. the Edinburgh Fringe
- B. the middle fingernail
- C. Chinese characters
- D. henna
Show answer
henna
Did you know? Henna designs fade over about two weeks.
28.Which greeting custom greets with palms pressed together?
- A. the handshake
- B. the Thai wai
- C. the kiss on the cheek
- D. the bow
Show answer
the Thai wai
Did you know? The wai pairs a slight bow with raised palms.
29.Which protective charm hangs a blue eye-shaped bead in Turkey and Greece?
- A. Botín
- B. May Day
- C. To Kill a Mockingbird
- D. the nazar
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the nazar
Did you know? The blue eye charm is called nazar.
30.Which scottish custom greets the year's first visitor in Scotland?
- A. first-footing
- B. the parachute
- C. Nighthawks
- D. the Altamira cave
Show answer
first-footing
Did you know? A tall, dark-haired first-footer is considered lucky.
31.Which spring custom weaves ribbons around a pole on May Day?
- A. shorthand
- B. the word "okay"
- C. the maypole dance
- D. Hans Christian Andersen
Show answer
the maypole dance
Did you know? Maypole dancing is a spring tradition.
32.Which summer custom crowns summer festivals in much of Europe?
- A. the earlobe
- B. the picnic
- C. the Smithsonian
- D. the flower crown
Show answer
the flower crown
Did you know? Flower crowns are a Midsummer tradition.

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